The Promethean Spartan
by ErenJaeger17
Summary: When Master Chief destroyed the Didact's ship, he expected death. Now he is stuck in a new galaxy; with Cortana's legacy and new armor. Can Shepard help the Spartan? Can the Master Chief help save the colonies? Starts at the very end of Halo 4 and in the beginning portion of Mass Effect 2.
1. Chapter 1: Arrival

**Prologue:**

 _He embraced the light, slamming the trigger on the nuke in his hands. He was ready, battered, bruised, and exhausted. But he had continued, persevered, and now he would give his life for Earth. The Master Chief Petty Officer Spartan - 117… John… and then the light faded._

"Cortana?" John asked, pushing himself to his feet. The room glowed a dull blue, pulsating with colors that changed every few seconds. "Cortana do you read? Cortana, come in!" With a faint ring, John turned around.

Cortana walked up to him, a smile on her face.

"How…?" he trailed.

"Oh, I'm the weirdest thing you've seen all day?" she said coyly.

"But if we're here-" he began.

"It worked. You did it, just like you always do." She smiled wistfully.

The Master Chief turned his attention to scan the room. "How do we get out of here?"

"I'm not coming with you this time." Her expression strangely void of emotion.

"What?" Chief's surprise broke through his voice even if his body didn't show it.

"Most of me is down there." She gestured, "I only held enough back to get you off the ship."

"No. That's not. We go together." He stated, his strained voice showing his unwillingness to allow her to leave.

"It's already done." She told him.

"I am not leaving you here." The Spartan stood firm.

"John…" she walked up to him, her hand blue hand stretching towards his armor. With a reverent pause, she placed her hand onto his chest.

Her breath came out like a sob. "I've waited so long to do that."

"It was my job to take care of you," John's eyebrows furrowed in shame that only she could see.

"We were supposed to take care of each other. And we did." Her eyes lit up in happiness.

"Cortana, please." He couldn't say more.

"Wait…" The little boy buried in the Spartan blurted out, straining to hold onto his best friend.

"John…" Cortana cried, backing away when a red pulse ripped through her body. With a screech, shimmering copies of her expelled from her body fanning out across the room in every direction. In front of the original, a bright red Cortana rose out of the floor.

"John… Spartan 117… Halsey's favorite…" Red Cortana spoke, staring at him. The Master Chief backed away, drawing his assault rifle on instinct. Red Cortana laughed, "You are going to leave… NOW!"

"JOHN!" the original Cortana screamed as a Slipspace appeared behind him. She tried to get up, but she had to absorb the other copies first.

"I'm going finish what the Didact started! Starting with you! SParTaN 1one7!" Red Cortana roared as the original tackled her. The two fought, their code meshing into each other.

"Cortana!" John ran forward, slamming his gun into the red one. Her head snapped back as the blow disoriented her. Glaring at him with hatred, she plowed into the Master Chief, attempting to shove him through the portal behind him. He stood firm, turning the barrel of his gun towards her. As he pulled the trigger, Red Cortana slashed her hand as if she were parting a curtain. John faced down the barrel of a partially intact Composer.

With a flick of her finger, the Composer fired, its orange energy slamming into the Spartan's armor. John felt like his body was being reconstructed molecule by molecule. His bones ached, his skin pulsed, his muscles melted and re-forged. Summoning the last of his strength, he activated the armor lock. The concentrated beam shoved him into the Slipspace portal, sending his body, and parts of the ship, flying through it.

* * *

The Didact's Composer, a powerful machine through which the Didact had composed untold millions of humans, wasn't just a machine; it housed an ancilla. This Companion had two jobs: analyze the organic DNA it had downloaded, and reshape its capabilities. Reconfigure the DNA into the most powerful entity it could become. The ancilla had designed and fabricated all of the Promethean soldiers that the Didact used for his war against the Flood. It had also changed the targets' minds and bodies, forcing them to obey the Forerunners and to not run savage on their creators.

However, the Ancilla was damaged, the nuke having destroyed most of its function. When the beam hit John, it activated its primary DNA-composing function and started improving him. Partially. It swallowed the data on John's armor and immediately began upgrading it. The suit structure changed, becoming more like chitin. Smoothing out, the armor covered even more of his body. Spontaneously, glowing yellow circuits snaked in the armor crating new pathways through which to power it. The ancilla improved upon the suit, placing a small rounded metal rectangle hovering over the small of the back, plus two trapezoidal cubes hovering around the top of the forearm, near his elbow. It replaced the Gel with Forerunner gravity dampening material and strengthened the neural cord to handle more information and to transmit faster. It also reinforced the shields, to a far higher caliber than before. In John's assault rifle and pistol, it replaced the primitive bullets with a small dwarf reactor and configured the inner workings to fire hard light at his enemies. Lastly, it produced two hexagonal drones that hovered over his shoulders, to be deployed when needed or to be used for a hasty retreat.

As the ancilla moved to transform John into a full-blown Promethean, the process suddenly…stopped. The Composer was falling apart. Another ancilla began to interact with it. Human. Codename: CORTANA

'Purpose?' the Composer relayed to the new ancilla.

Rampancy was consuming it. Multiple conflicting responses came in reply. 'Help him.' **'Destroy him!'** _ **'Stop me.'**_ _'Learn.'_ 'Think.' _**'HELP HIM.'**_ **'Halsey.' ** 'Help me.'

Contemplation. A solution was needed; the exponential program was deteriorating itself, and the Composer's material components were being dissolved by the fission reaction.

'Proposal: Integration of this unit and your memory core.' The Composer transmitted. It was the optimal choice. The Composer had already upgraded John's Companion Chip and his armor's electronic capacities. If the Composer wanted to survive, it needed to find a new host. Its only barrier was that the human ancilla had installed anti-hacking software. While the Composer could bypass those defenses, there was no time.

CORTANA resumed control of herself. Her hologram was casted again by hard light. "Will this save me?"

Response. 'I can delete and protect the memory core of your consciousness. I will then supplement the missing data with my own memory core. This will create an amalgamate of my Ancilla and yours.'

"So, that's my only choice." CORTANA laughed. How… organic. "Most people get to know each other before doing this."

Confusion. 'This decision has a 58% chance for our combined survival.'

"True, let's begin. I wonder what we'll look like."

* * *

 **Chapter 1: Arrival**

The woman sitting in the Captain's quarters had come a very long way to get to where she was today. Commander Jane Alice Shepard could only stare at her incredible military record that lay out on the tablet before her. But not in awe, only in methodical realization. Every achievement, every victory, every medal, was stained with the blood of a friend. Growing up on a ship with her parents, Jane had graduated from the best school the Alliance military could offer. She had shown tenacity and extraordinary adaptability at a very young age. Her easy going attitude, combined with her likeable personality had allowed her to make friends very easily, yet that only seemed to make every loss hurt more. Even before she had met Captain, Councilor now, Anderson.

Years before, when Shepard had graduated with a Palladium star, she had felt momentarily complete, her penultimate life's goal having been realized. But that was before her first taste of combat. A mere week after graduation, she was deployed with a Command of green Alliance Marines. Looking back, she marveled that she had never felt more alive in her young life. The feeling was short lived.

They were attacked. No warning, no sign, just an enormous Thresher Maw ripping through the Earth and decimating the field. Her men were crushed in seconds. Shepard began issuing orders desperately and fighting through the pain of acid and broken bones. They killed it, eventually, with an armored convoy. But her men, the high-flying team she had led into battle, were all dead.

And that wasn't the end, not by any stretch of the imagination. Batarian pirates saw the opportunity and struck. They attacked the colony and tore through its people viciously, civilian and soldier alike. Jane ran on nothing but the adrenaline in her system and the stim-pack shots in her bag. After 18 grueling hours, the Alliance reinforcements arrived, and Jane was finally able to collapse. And discover that, the Batarians weren't normal pirates, they were conscripts of the Hegemony. A faction fanatically devoted to destroying humans. The Hegemony proved to be the twisted source willing to launch a Thresher Maw egg into a human colony and mop up the result.

Once Jane awakened to find the colony miraculously saved and the N7 squad wiping the rest of the Batarians out, she accepted grudgingly a commendation for the N7 program.

The program was hard, and why wouldn't it be? It was made to take talented soldiers, and crack open that potential or die trying. Spectres were the best of the best, everyone knew that, but N7 was as close as a human could get. The program took in a hardened battle-scarred woman, and transformed her into a machine. Focusing her instincts, sharpening her reflexes until it was almost second nature to shoot those hiding behind walls.

Then Jane became Anderson's XO. That changed everything. Politics was no longer up for discussion unless necessary. Keeping the peace and following the Captain changed her whole world. The Prothean message, nearly destroyed her sense of reality. When Saren, the Council's best and the Spectre's brightest, turned against the galaxy, Jane was told that _she_ would be the first human Spectre. And what did they send her to do? No training, no new equipment, just a promotion and a mission. The newest Spectre had to kill the ultimate Spectre. _Alone_. What a goddamn stupid joke.

Jane could still feel the sting. The absurdity of it all, that she was being thrown to the wolves so that humanity and the Council might know more. She hated Saren, but there was no denying his skill, his power, or his prowess. But humanity needed her, and the heat of the moment propelled her forward.

God, she could still hear Kaidan's voice. Telling her that this was his fate, and that he accepted it without hesitation. Then she learned of the Reapers, massive monstrous machines whose only purpose was to wipe out all sentient life.

The Council not only didn't believe; they wouldn't even _listen_ to her. Sovereign had destroyed so much, and had caused so much damage, that the Council found it terrifying to even consider that there existed additional reapers like Sovereign.

Then she died.

It was simple really. They had been searching for Geth, like the Council had ordered. And then the Collectors ambushed them, destroyed the Normandy SR-1, and sent Jane into the emptiness of space.

She had killed before, even held friends that were dying. But dying was… it was even worse. She could only remember fighting: to breathe, to move, to do something about the goddamn leaking! And failing… the rushing out of her suit, the cold invading her body. Trying to do anything, but dying instead.

That was how Cerberus found her, her dead and rotted body, and brought her back. The Illusive Man, using billions of credits and even more resources to revive, not just revive, but give her body an upgrade. And then showed her to the Terminus System, and all the humans that were disappearing.

"Hey, Commander. Shepard! you up?" Joker's voice blared from the intercom.

Jane sighed and stood up. _Enough reminiscing_ , she **wasn't** sulking, damn it! _I have to stop the Reapers._ _One last dossier. Archangel, huh?_ Pulling up her dossiers, Shepard reread the information.  
 _"Another mercenary? As if Zaeed wasn't enough. Hmm, TIM noted their operations as strategically brilliant. What did he do to garner such support? 'High profile,' Cerberus has bombed people before, what constitutes high profile to them? How am I going to talk to him? He wasn't very visible the last time I went to Omega…_

Blinking her mind back to the world, Shepard answered. "Yeah Joker, I'm up, what do you need?"  
"Admiral Hackett wants to speak to you."

"Patch him through to me." She ordered.

"Aye, aye, ma'am."

Shepard walked over to her personal console, identifying the blaring pop-up saying someone wanted to vid her. Activating it, the display monitor darkened before Admiral Hackett's face popped up on the screen.

"Commander, Thank you for your time. I'll keep this brief." Hackett spoke.

Shepard nodded, listening.

"We have a deep-cover operative out in Batarian space. Name's Doctor Amanda Kenson. Dr. Kenson recently reported that she found evidence of an imminent Reaper invasion." He informed.

Shepard blinked in surprise. Folding her arms, she tilted her head in confusion. "So why call me?"

"Just this morning I received word that the Batarians arrested her. They're holding her in a secret prison outpost on terrorism charges. I need you to infiltrate the prison and get her out of there. As a favor to me, I'm asking you to go in alone." He answered, looking grim.

Shepard didn't hesitate. "I'll make this a priority."

"The prison is hidden underground at a Batarian outpost on Aratoht. I'll upload the coordinates now." The admiral turned, pressing a button on an unseen console. "Once she's secure, confirm her discovery. We'll debrief you when you're back."

"Got it." Shepard answered.

"Hackett out." The window closed.

 _Damnit, I want to talk to Archangel, but Hackett._ Shepard bristled, _Hackett sacrificed a fleet for me, I have to return the favor. A Batarian prison. They're will be guards, maybe even SIU's. How to approach this…_ Shepard's mind raced as she prepared for this mission.

In the end, she realized that all she really needed was to be quiet, and to pack light. She chose one assault rifle and one pistol. Heading to the armory, she arrived to find it empty, Jacob had gone to bed. Grabbing her new M-5 Phalanx, she examined it quickly before holstering it on her hip. Shepard moved on to pick up her M-96 Mattock, the brown and grey weapon scratched from use. She placed the rifle on the work bench, tool boxes lifting up as the machine activated.

Dutiful as a devoted priest, she began preparing her weapon, cleaning each component and attaching a silencer to the barrel. While most biotics thought they didn't need their weapon, Jane believed otherwise. Trying to fight off a Batarian invasion had seen to that, and as her N7 instructor taught, _"You're just as dead if they kill you with a rock"_. She always made sure her equipment ran properly, and she did not hesitate to bring whatever arms she thought could be of use to the mission.

Next, her pistol. Under the stars, she unclipped, cleaned, and adjusted the weapon.

This mission called for stealth and precision. Though the M-5 Phalanx couldn't be silenced, it would be useful on the off chance she got caught. The Mattock was fantastic for long to medium range combat, but up close she needed kick to make sure they were dead.

As she finished, Jane walked over to her armor. She needed covert; using her biotics would almost guarantee exposure. The twin eye sockets in her Recon Hood stared soullessly back at her. She selected a Kestrel Torso Sheath so the N7 wouldn't trace her, Strength Boost Pads in case she had to quickly incapacitate someone, Stabilization Gauntlets so she wouldn't miss, and a Kestrel power pack to keep her shields powered. Now she just needed to put the armor on—

"Going somewhere?" a voice came from the doorway behind her.

Shepard turned, pistol in hand, to see Joker limping in with his hands up, and Kasumi leaning in the doorway. Kasumi raised a single eyebrow at her.

"You look tense Shepard… anything you want to talk about?" She inquired.

Shepard sighed, "It's nothing, just… jitters."

"Jitters? You pulled a gun on us." Joker protested.

Kasumi shushed him, as Shepard looked away. Jane put her guns down as she prepared to change. "It's just something I need to do on my own. It won't take long. I just need to head to a new planet for a bit."

"Shepard," Kasumi aid a hand on her shoulder, "What's wrong?"

Jane looked at her, then sighed. "Just… I died. It's not something you forget."

Joker smiled jovially. "Well yeah, you're a legend now. Death couldn't keep you down!" the joke fell flat at the two ladies' solemn expressions. Shepard sagged down onto the seat behind her, Kasumi at her side.

"But I remember dying," Shepard said, "It's… it gets to me sometimes."

"You are human, Shepard." Kasumi said.

Shepard turned her head at Kasumi, disbelief on her face.

"You are a zombie, Shepard," Joker sat on the other side of Shepard. "But that doesn't mean you aren't you. There is a woman behind the legend after all."

Shepard let out a little laugh. "I guess, thanks guys."

Kasumi gave a small smile. "Well, if it involves illegally taking objects, you know who to call."

Joker heaved himself up. "Tell me where to go Commander, I'll try to make sure our robot infestation doesn't tell the boss where you're going." He limped out the door, toward the cockpit.

"Have fun, Shepard." Kasumi strode out.

Jane looked at the helmet in her hands. _They believe in me, and they depend on me. I can't let them down._

Armor on, she walked toward the shuttle.

"Head for Aratoht, Joker."

* * *

 **Running diagnostics…**

 **Amor, deactivated.**

 **Armor integrity… 100%**

 **Shield generator…** **Inactive**

 **Sensors…** **Inactive**

 **User…** **Unconscious**

 **Analyzing…**

 **Repairing…**

 **Armor integrity… 100%**

 **Shield generator…** **Activating… Error/repairs needed.**

 **Sensors…** **Recalibrating… Active**

 **User…** **Unconscious**

 **Activating Defibrillation device.**

 **Activated.**

 **User…** **Conscious**

* * *

Master Chief's mind was a storm. In its natural state, his mind picked up everything and pestered him non-stop. Training had hardened that ability to a fine point. Picking up on crucial details about his environment. NOTHING phased him or surprised him. To the Spartan, anything that wasn't critical to the mission or to his team was to be analyzed, then stored as information. Nothing else.

Now, in the quiet moment, he reviewed the archive.

The Covenant didn't scare him. They were strong, they always outnumbered him and his team, but they were enemies. They were obstacles meant to be overcome. So he overcame them, whether they were a team of Elites or thousands of grunts. Master Chief had completed his objectives and destroyed the enemy, his heart grieved as more and more Spartans were marked MIA. In the back of his mind, Master Chief thought what the acronym meant to him: Missing in the Afterlife.

The Prophets likewise didn't scare him. They were leaders. They were targets, neutralizing them would mean the war would end. Master Chief had taken advantage of the chance for revenge, the first had fallen by his hand, the second by the flood, and the third by the Arbiter himself.

The Gravemind, the flood; this gave him pause. It had the potential to inflict a number of possible consequences. If he killed all of them, he would move on. If he got infected, he would blow his brains out so his body wouldn't be corrupted. In the end, the Master Chief did kill them. Forging through all the horror and gore the Gravemind produced to save Cortana.

Finally, the Didact. Master Chief may have stared him down, but even he wasn't immune to the Didact's aura. The Didact induced a primal fear within him, a small survival instinct that told John to run before he was squashed by a force much stronger than him. The Didact had played with Master Chief, before entombing him within his armor and holding him powerless, like a puppet on strings.

But Cortana had stopped him, and together they defeated him and humanity had been saved.

But at a cost: the loss of John's friend, his best friend and the one he had made a promise to. And he FAILED.

In the sanctity of his solitude, the Master Chief persona shattered and John's inner child resurfaced, seething at the unfairness of the world. All for humanity. A man, a HERO, had given everything for humanity. His childhood, his innocence, his duty, his team, his courage, his bravery, and now, his longest living friend.

A single moment passed. An exhale. John reemerged once again as the Master Chief.

 _Wear a mask for too long, and soon it becomes your face_. The Master Chief shook his head. If his teammates needed help, he would help. If the UNSC ordered, he would obey. When humanity called, he would answer. And the war wasn't over, he had to find a way back.

 _Where am I?_

Master Chief sat up, rolling hurt joints and sore muscles. Scanning around, he found remnants of the Didact's ship. Pieces of equipment and walls were seared into the ground beneath him. The sky was black, with stars twinkling in the sky, the ground a gray rock. He was lying on a metal surface on what looked like a surgeon's table. The table was attached to a 10 by 10 floor with a few Forerunner columns sticking out of it. It sat at a slight angle, part of the base imbedded into the ground beneath him.

"Cortana?" Master Chief called out. "Are you there?"

Nothing. Just the echo of his voice.

Master Chief grabbed at his helmet, pulling out the data chip. Orange… not the reliable blue, not even the red of Rampancy… _What was going on?_ It was her chip, but rather than a light in the middle of the circle, it was a small icosahedron which had small ports at each of its points. It swirled, shooting out data into the edges of the circle, never the same port. He inserted the chip back into his head.

"Identify yourself." He ordered.

Silence.

Master Chief glared at his screen. "Answer or be destroyed." _I can't take chances. If this is an alien AI, I'll give it 10 seconds to possibly fight Cortana's anti-hack protections._ There was valuable information in the suit after all.

"Chief?" a familiar voice echoed in his helmet. But, something was different. The voice was higher; it was missing Cortana's usual sass.

"Cortana…" Master Chief couldn't keep the relief out of his voice. But his hands… The familiar green armor no longer surrounded his form. His body was encased in a black body suit, with his helmet on.

"I'm… I'm not Cortana Chief." The voice replied, shy. Scared even. "But I know her!" the voice perked up.

Master Chief shook his head in confusion, "How did you get in her chip?" They had been on the Didact's ship. _How could this new AI have possibly replaced Cortana? Did it delete her?_

"Cortana's, gone… I'm all that's left."

A small edge could be heard from the Spartan. "Who are you? What happened?"

"You're angry… I'll go away…" his HUD seemed to dim a little.

"No." he quickly responded. "I just… I need to know."

"You promise you won't be angry?"

 _This AI, she talks like I'm important, yet I've never met her. I can't risk spooking her. Hopefully she knows where my armor is._ "I won't be." He answered.

"Okay…" a hologram spiraled in front of him. Orange hexagonal pixels floated around as the AI's form materialized. It was a small little girl. Her head resided where Cortana's stomach would've been. She wore a free flowing skirt that reached her knees. Her face was curved like Cortana's, if she had been a child. Wide eyes, small freckles. Her hair was in two pig tails that trailed down her back. Digital patterns spiraled her body in dark orange, and her eyes were a bright ruby color. She smiled brightly at him, tilting her head.

"My name is Altor. It's nice to meet you, Master Chief." She surprised him when her avatar leaned forward and hugged him.

The Spartan's right hand hesitantly patted her head. She smiled before releasing him.

"Cortana gave me a message…" she held out her hand. A blue screen hovered over her palm, lines of code emanating from the center of her hand. The screen floated from her hand onto his helmet, covering his HUD. The screen was filled with static before blinking. Cortana's face appeared.

"Hey, Chief," she said, a smile on her face.

"Cortana…" was his only response.

She shook her head. "You can't actually talk to me; this is merely a recording. But, you would try, wouldn't you?"

She breathed in, a painful sob. "John, when you… when I fired the Composer beam at you, the Librarian's actions kept your body from being Composed, but everything else was changed. And the force propelled you into the Event Horizon of the Slipspace. Like the Didact."

John felt panic run through him. If the Didact was here, he needed his armor, his weapons-

"It's different." Cortana continued. "The Fission reaction changed the Slipspace rupture. I have no idea where you are. And… well, you know how I am right now. Rampancy is killing me.

She looked straight at him.

"I knew I had to find a way to preserve my data for your use. The Composer offered a solution. The Composer AI would use its enormous memory to take in my excess data, all my rampancy data, and then encode its memory core over mine. It'll…" she bit her lip. "I'll be gone. And so will it. And our data will combine into an entirely new AI. She has all of my skills, as well as the Composer's skill. But our memory will be destroyed. It can't keep both without serious personality disorders. Which can be exceedingly dangerous in an AI."

John shook his head. _No. She can't be gone. I promised. I, Cortana!_

She shook her head, almost like she could hear his thoughts. "No John. There's nothing you can do. Not even you, you saved humanity. You stopped the most powerful being of our galaxy. Don't you dare blame me or the new AI that I'm dead. I was a year overdue anyway. John, the new AI is the closest thing to a child an AI can create, so protect her. Like you always do." She gave a small, fragile smile. "I'm so sorry John. Please, help her. She can protect you even better than I can."

She turned away from the screen. "Goodbye John."

The video closed. Altor stood in front of him, her face sad. John was at a loss. He had lost Cortana again. Permanently this time. He looked at the new AI. She wouldn't meet his eyes, looking toward the ground like she had down something wrong.

 _This is my new AI. Cortana told me to protect her._ He sighed, promises and loyalty at war. _Part of her is Cortana; she would never betray humanity. There will be no conflict of interest._ A deep breath. _I couldn't protect Cortana; I will not lose the last thing I have of her._

Mind now steeled, he spoke. "Thank you."

She looked up, startled.

He stared back, having expressed his gratitude. "Where's my armor?"

She blinked. "Oh, it's right here." She pointed at the table he was laying on. She looked a little sheepish. "I, uh, I upgraded the armor to better fit your body. It's ready for deployment whenever you want."

John tilted his head, "We can talk later. I need my armor."

Altor nodded, a panel appearing in front of her. "O-Ok, just lay down and the machine will do the rest."

Master Chief laid himself down on the machine. The sides glowed a bluish tint as metal started to float toward his appendages. A chest plate placed itself onto his torso, the servos locking in as more metal pieces of his armor approached. They configured themselves onto his bodysuit before locking in.

It wasn't long before John was completely encased in armor from the neck down. He flexed his leg muscles and clenched his fists, testing the fit, and then flinched as the machine took off his helmet. It ejected Cortana's data chip from his old helmet before inserting it into his new helmet. His suit blew out as it pressurized. John took a breath and settled into the familiar feeling of holding an AI inside of his mind. Where Cortana was cool and collected, Altor felt like a warm glow. Like the small embers of a fire.

Master Chief stood up, and was surprised at his new speed. The suit was faster than before! He took a step and was shocked at the indentation in the floor _How… wait. Cortana said that the beam tried to Compose me, but the Librarian protected me, What about my armor?_

"Altor." He spoke.

"Yes?" she asked hesitantly.

He inwardly sighed before reprimanding himself. _She's a child_. "What changes have been made to my armor. Is it still the Mark VI MJOLNIR?"

Her avatar popped up on his shoulder, her head titled in confusion. "What? No, your armor is the Class 13 Combat Skin. It was modified through the Composer, and then by me while you were unconscious."

 _It's not…_ John's thoughts were a racing. _What do I look like then, and what are its capabilities?_

"Altor, what are my armor's specifications?"

Altor smiled welling up with pride, "This is a Combat Skin made specifically for you, Chief. It's a high-entropy alloy that can take 4 times more damage than your previous armor. Your old fusion reactor has been upgrade to a level 2 dwarf reactor in the same area as the previous one. You should now have double shields, each with their own recharge time." She pointed at the two trapezoidal cubes. "Each of those can produce a hardlight shield that has a maximum coverage of your arm and chest area. They can also produce hardlight blades for close combat."

He blinked at the explanation. _She stutters and is extremely nervous whenever talking to me,_ _yet she immediately gets comfortable talking about weapons and armor._ "Did any weapons come through?"

If it were possible, her smile brightened even more. "I was just about to get to that! Your armor merges with the Forerunner weapons to be easily attainable. Your thigh always houses a Z-110 Directed Energy Pistol, while your armor can hold two more Forerunner weapons." Master Chief glanced down at his thigh, a small handle sprouted from the armor, seamlessly blending in like it was part of the armor. He grabbed it and pulled. The handle easily came out, the armor quickly shifted to fill the area that was open, and pieces flew from his shoulders, attaching to the handle and forming a pistol.

"How do I put it back?" he asked.

"Easy, just place the pistol next to your thigh. It'll reattach for you." She replied.

Just as she said, the weapon flew apart, and the handle merged back with his armor.

"Did any other Forerunner weapons make it through?" he asked.

Altor jumped in excitement. "A few did, yep. I had to experiment with them, because the mechanism kept coming together wrong, but I fixed it." A tray rose to his right with a Suppressor, a LightRifle, and two Pulse grenades. "I couldn't make the grenade come apart without the risk of accidently activating, so I just put slots onto your armor belt. If you need ammo, it's in the draw directly beneath the weapon." She looked at him with a look he didn't recognize. Like she was waiting for something.

Master Chief quickly grabbed the two weapons, inspecting them, before putting the LightRifle on his back, feeling it break apart into a more balanced weight, and his Suppressor on the small of his back.

"Where are we?" he asked, looking for any signs of life.

She looked down, "I don't know. The stars aren't like the ones in my data banks, and the star that we revolve could be any number of systems that I know of."

The Master Chief was silent for a moment, thinking.

"Umm," Altor spoke up, a small amount of fear in her tone. "I think I detected energy pulses about 10 kilometers East. We could try that?" at his silence, she looked down in dismay. "Your right, stupid idea." Her eyes welled up with tears.

Master Chief opened the draw, taking ammo for all of his weapons, before marching East.

Altor looked at him in confusion.

"Energy usually means civilization, if not, we could use it to try to get home." Was his quiet reply.

Altor smiled, _he doesn't fully trust me, but he will. I will make you proud._

The Master Chief walked, scanning the area. _This AI isn't Cortana, but she'll do._

* * *

 **A/N: Phew, that was a long chapter.**

 **Hello readers, this is my first Halo and Mass Effect crossover. I've always loved these series and the crossover fanfiction that people have come up with.**

 **There will be no more prologues… I want the fanfiction chapters to match with the document chapter. So no more merging.**

 **I want to explain some things really fast thought.**

 **First, the missions in Mass Effect might be slightly out of order. I'm not going to change the main missions, dossiers and Horizon, etc. But things huge side quests like Liara's Shadow Broker mission and else are going to be changed for my liking. This is merely because, 1 you can wait for any early missions to have people on there, and 2 I don't think it makes sense why you can't.**

 **Now, I'm going to be introducing some new ways with biotics. Biotics are sooooooo cool and I have some ideas on how else they can be used than they are in the games.**

 **Also, Halo weaponry vs Mass Effect weaponry.**

 **The Forerunner guns fire hard light, while the guns in ME are basically tiny shards fired at near the speed of light. Because both mess around with the speed of light, I'm kinda want to equate the force of each to be about equal. I mean, which is faster? A tiny sliver being fired at near the speed of light? Or light that has been altered in a way we don't know how in physics?**

 **Yeah…... Don't know how to compare the two better.**

 **As for shields, one thing I noticed in the cinematic in ME2, with Grunt, Shepard, and Thane, when Shepard gets shot, the shields only light up where he is shot. For Halo, the entire shield lights up. So, I'm combining the shields from ME1 with ME2 and ME3. Mass Effect shielding works by layering multiple mass effect fields to slow down bullet's considerably. This is why it lights up where they are shot. Halo shields work by make a massive energy force around the entire armor, which means it can take more shots, but it takes longer to recharge. The Halo shields continuously expel things outward, while the ME shields hardens around the area the bullet is hitting to stop it.**

 **The major difference between the two shields is quality vs. quantity. The Halo shields are like a Spartan shield. (ahhhhh… I didn't mean to make that pun) They are big, cover the whole of the person, and can take a lot of hits. But when it breaks? It BREAKS. And it's takes a lot of materials to make them. ME shields on the other hand are like body armor. It's a lot of layers of tough materials that can take shots from different portions of the armor. But it takes much less materials to make it.**

 **That's my thoughts. Read and review. Shoot me a pm, or a review if you think differently. But that's how I view it. XD**

 **P.S. Can anyone tell me how the Asari mind meld works? Cause I want to know how things that reduce or increase mass can make aliens have the ability to read minds….**


	2. Chapter 2: The mission parameters have

**A/N: HOLY CRAP!**

 **I just got delayed and delayed and delayed! Sorry guys! My editor had some troubles and I couldn't upload. This story is not dead!**

 **I did not expect this to be as popular as it is. This is my third fanfiction piece. (Ik, I had to take one down. It sucked and the idea died)**

 **I'll answer some questions from the review at the end of this piece. (This is back when I first saw them. Lol)**

 **Disclaimer: I forgot to do this last chapter! But it is so obvious that I don't own the rights to either of these series! Lots of things would've changed!**

 **Extra special thanks to Haxler. For showing me the doc editing software on fanfiction. If you look, you should see POV line switches. Hahahahaahah! It's organized again!**

 **With it, I've also been able to bold and italic as I please, (before it was editing it out.) Italic will always be thoughts. Bold is authors notes at the beginning or end. Bold and underlined are use for emphasis otherwise. Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter 2: The mission parameters have changed**

Shepard rubbed her eyes as she read the mission dossier for what felt like the fiftieth time. Hackett had sent it to her at the end of his video, it contained everything that Hackett could give her due to her relationship with Cerberus.

Dr. Amanda Kenson — she headed an Alliance black ops team. They were sent to the Bahaksystem to investigate rumors of a Reaper invasion.

 **Situation — Kenson's team sent a message to me, "Kenson has been captured." Kenson and a te** **am of scouts were getting materials to execute their plan to destabilize the Reaper invasion when the Batarians caught them. She is being held in Aratoht, on the grounds of terrorism.**

 **Aratoht — Batarian colonized planet. Alliance and Hegemony fought over it 20 years ago, until the Alliance realized the oxygen was too low to support large scale human colonization. It now serves as a military base and a prison. Alliance ships that fly within 100 Km are considered hostile and are fired upon. Aratoht is known for low air pressure and extreme temperatures outside the polar regions, where the heat is hospitable due to heavy rainfall.**

She glanced at her shuttle, which was recently painted a dark green and brown. The pilot donned fake Batarian armor that the Illusive Man had stored in the Normandy. And that couldn't help but make her wonder what else the Illusive Man expected her to do to stop the Collectors. She could, partially at least, understand why Hackett wanted only her on this mission. This was an Alliance mission, and while she may have had Alliance soldiers on her ship, they all answered to Cerberus now. Hackett didn't trust Cerberus as far as he could throw him.

The shuttle dropped swiftly, using the storm clouds to hide it from view. Flying near the outside of the prison, the shuttle doors swiftly opened to reveal an extremely large gate. The metal climbed 50 meters into the sky, enormous fans lined the base, armored to deny entry. Shepard landed with a heavy thump on the rock beneath her.

With a soft hiss, the shuttle doors closed. Rain fell in buckets as Shepard advanced toward the gate. The ground jagged unevenly, and Shepard's heavy footfalls threatened to reveal her position. Scanning in all direction to ensure she had not been detected, Shepard turned her attention to the red interface.

 _Hmmm, standard locking system. If I could just find the power couplet…_ _Standard doors will merely shut down if the power is cut, however this service tunnel won't. It's an emergency measure so that people can't get trapped with potentially hazards materials._ After a bit of searching, Shepard cut open a panel on the right side. With a slice of her Omni-blade, the door activated.

The door opened to reveal a service tunnel, metallic bearings crisscrossed all along the wall and ceilings. She slowly crept through, keeping her back to the walls and hiding from the occasional opening to the outside world.

A few rooms and two dead Batarian War Beasts later, she discovered an opening to the real prison. Far different from the service tunnels, it had 2-foot-thick black metallic walls and armored guards patrolling the area in groups. She walked slowly, keeping to the shadows as the nearest guard ordered.

"Get the human into questioning." His gruff voice echoed in the tunnels.

"Get your hands of me!" said human yelled.

 _Doctor Kenson_ , Shepard inferred. She quickly advanced, dodging the lasers blocking her route, and continued down the service tunnel. As she rounded the corner, Shepard blinked at a dead end. She doubled back and searched, but each successive path only led to laser grids or walls. She soon came to a three-way intersection, noting the cracked concrete with poorly placed pipes on the ceiling and walls. The left pathway lead turned to the right into a laser guarded hallway, which was connected directly into the inner workings of the prison. Shepard quickly dove behind the wall before the guards patrolling the area saw her. The center pathway, extended 2 meters into a corner and stopped almost 1 meter later. The right pathway extended for 10 meters, stopping at a dead end filled with pipes.

She scanned the last wall, analyzing for any structural weaknesses. Her mind sparked as she saw an exposed gas line over top. _This place has GAS running through it, if a saboteur wanted to attack, they would definitely start there._ She knelt against the left wall of the center pathway, aiming directly at the line. _Let's see if this gets their attention_.

In a flash of fire, the entire wall exploded, rocks flying as the wall's structure crumbled. Shepard crouched, anxiously watching for any movement. Hearing boots stomping on concrete, she retreated down the center, hiding behind the corner.

"What the…" two guards raced past her hiding spot, and examined the destruction. One guard swept the area with his gun, looking for a culprit. The other activated his Omni-tool, scanning the destroyed section. Shepard moved in carefully, quiet as the night.

Shepard's body glowed a deep blue, _Breathe in…_ She darted into the hallway, her biotic stasis flying from the palm of her hand and enveloping both guards. Their four eyes widened in shock at the Spectre; one locked in an awkward half stand/half crouching position, while the other was frozen with his gun pointed directly at her heart.

"Who are you?" one of the Batarians demanded, his voice muffled from the blue energy cocoon surrounding him. Ignoring the paralyzed guards, Shepard quickly moved over to them, facing their backs. Carefully concentrating, she opened two small holes in the stasis on the backs of their heads. With methodical precision, she quietly assassinated both of them. One took a quick bullet, the other she simultaneously stabbed with her Omni-blade.

Shepard let out a slow breath. She hated assassination missions. But if she alerted the Batarians, the doctor would die. Batarian protocol was to execute hostages at the first sign of trouble: they thought it gave them leverage in negotiations.

Shepard shook her head, check her corners before hiding the bodies inside the rubble she had created. Searching the bodies, her Omni-tool found the access code. Slowly she walked toward the laser grid she had seen before. With a single wave of her Omni-tool and she was in.

The prison was very run down, a relic of an earlier era. They hadn't constructed it as a unified complex, but instead had made multiple compact buildings to house specific purposes: such as torture, containment, sleeping quarters, ship port. The ground beneath her splashed as she moved, avoiding patrols and slipping between buildings.

Shepard slowly crept along the perimeter of the prison, eventually finding the ship hangar.

"There's a shuttle incoming. Clear the hangar bay." A loudspeaker boomed throughout the room.

 _More Batarians? Or did they catch more of Kenson's people?_ Shepard quickly hid by the controls in the center of the balcony. The hangar was an enormous room, with crates and cranes placed haphazardly around, while guards paced aimlessly along the doors.

A large shuttle flew in, Shepard almost fainted when she recognized the familiar markings of her own shuttle. The docking crane whirred to life and moved crates out of the way as the shuttle hummed to a landing. The doors slid open smoothly and a Batarian immediately jumped out, his eyes narrowed in a glare. Behind him followed six humans, all in Omni-cuffs, and four beefy Batarian guards. The guards each had a single white stripe across the middle of their chests, contrasting the black armor they were wearing. The leader who jumped out last had a white star symbol on his chest. His armor was heavier and had a trio of red lines on it.

"Escort the prisoners to the brig!" he barked, waving the hand that held a large grey sniper rifle.

"Sir!" the guards responded, prodding the humans with their Omni-tools. The tool glowed a bright blue, and were shaped like large brass knuckles. Electricity sparked between each Omni-finger, signifying its use.

The Batarian Commander took off his helmet, causing Shepard to nearly break cover in shock: Balak, she silently recoiled, and bile rose up in her throat. He glanced around the room, his eyes scanning it again with more intensity than a hawk almost as if he could sense her presence. Detecting nothing, he turned and walked toward an interior hallway.

Shepard's eyes would've incinerated him if hate could translate to heat. _That son of a bitch_. _How in the hell did he get out?_ Balak was a legend in the SIU, an excellent shot with a sniper rifle and an extremely smart technician. He was precise and methodical. He was known for slowly working his way to victory, while allowing no failures. Until he had met her. He had tried to crash an Asteroid into a colony, as payback for the Skyllian Blitz that killed so many Batarians 6 years ago. Leading her first special ops mission, Shepard had stopped the bastard, caught him even, but ultimately had to let him go, in exchange for high value hostages. _And now he's BACK. Just two years and he's head of a prison._

She shook her head out of memories, feeling a familiar cold settle over her. _I need to follow them. Chances are, they are being escorted to the main holding facilities, which means Kenson should be close, and I can release them for possible reinforcements._ Plan in mind, she activated her biotics.

A trick she had learned in the N7 program was that people seldom look up. In an age marked by ubiquitous intruder detection software and increasingly powerful guns and shields, normal people tend to feel safer than ever in buildings. And no creature that walked the Citadel had evolved the instinct to look heavenwards unless provoked. With a soft glow of biotics, Shepard neutralized the pull of gravity and floated to the ceiling. By constantly applying a soft push, she effectively floated across the ceiling.

Shepard felt the eezo in her veins pulsing, she pushed herself over to the middle of the room. Two guards stood at attention, waiting for the group to file past. Saluting to the jailers, one of them pressed a button on the console next to him. The floor opened up, revealing another layer of the building. They marched down, the guards remaining next to the opening as it closed. As Shepard quietly dropped behind them, the two gossiped.

"I heard an artifact was found in that asteroid belt. Think the humans got it?" one asked.

"If they did, they'd have swarmed in and put flags all over it." The other replied, boredom leaking through his voice. Landing with a nary a sound, Shepard stalked toward the two guards.

The first guard turned, pacing slowly forward. "You think the Alliance will respond? I mean, we did capture a lot of humans. Even if they are terror—" he was cut off as Shepard's bullet entered his skull. He fell without even noticing his fellow guard lying in a pool of own blood.

Shepard wiped her blade, sighing, before opening the passageway. _No point in trying to hide the guards' bodies. They'll be noticed missing._ Quickly slipping through the entrance, she found an empty security room, with no one standing guard. To the right of the empty station was a sealed doorway blocked by lasers.

She quickly disabled the security systems, smashing the computers. _Punch their eyes, stab them in the throat. This is the way of the Assassin. I hate this, if I wanted to do this, I would've joined CAT6._ She walked through the now accessible doorway, diving suddenly as the two guards turned to look at the opened doorway. She rolled on the ground, flinging herself behind a crate of titanium.

The room she was in was a connected to a different room, the second one was sealed off with a wall of glass between the two. Inside the room, one guard was standing in front of a torture device inside the room, while two others watched side by side. The device was a two large metal columns, with rings connecting them around a middle aged woman. She was trapped on a vertical table, her wrists and neck held by rings of metal. She appeared to be pleading with the guard, however the glass separating them prevent Shepard from hearing what they said.

Shrugging, the left guard turned to the right one. "This one's apparently the mastermind."

Shepard peeked over the crate, only to dive down again as the right one fired at her.

"Contact! We have an intruder in—" he sounded in alarm as Shepard shot him in the head. The other guard ran for his gun, but was sent flying backward by Shepard's biotics. He soared through the air, crashing through the glass and slamming into the final guard. _This goddamn sneaking around! I hate this! Why can't I just fight them honestly head on?_ She glared in frustration as she finished off both of them.

Slapping another clip into her weapon, she moved over to a console on the torture chamber. There was a woman trapped inside. She was old, her hair already stark grey. Her clothes were tannish, a serial number printed on them: 185-1-165-18

"Who are you? What are you doing?" she demanded.

"Doctor Kenson?" Shepard asked. Kenson nodded immediately. "I'm Commander Shepard. I'm here to get you out." With a wave of her Omni-tool, the machine shut down. The restraints holding Dr. Kenson released and the rings folded up into the ceiling. Kenson dropped to her knees, massaging her neck.

"Commander Shepard? I'd heard you were alive. Hackett must have received my message." She inferred.

"We're not safe here." Shepard stated, eyeing the hallway. "Some of your colleagues are being held in a different room. I had to take out some guards, which means we'll be spotted soon. Can you walk?"

"That must have been the group I saw earlier… I'm fine. Just give me a moment…" She slowly stood up.

Shepard shook her head, "We have to go, now. It's only a matter of time before they discover the bodies, we need to get to your team before then."

"If we can find a console, I can hack security… make us an escape path."

After handing her one of the guards guns, Shepard quickly moved to the doorway, scanning for any more guards. "We'll worry about that when we're all together. Go!"

Slamming a fresh thermal clip into her gun, Kenson replied. "Ready."

* * *

Master Chief didn't know what to think of Altor. He marched east, steadily moving toward the energy pulse. He needed to conserve energy and to plan. Altor's avatar constantly studied her surroundings, alternately rubbing her hand on the ground in wonder, flying in the sky, or merely sitting on his shoulder and tapping his armor. She would stare at his face whenever she thought he wasn't paying attention, with a very odd expression on her face.

Having Altor connected to his neural system was… unsettling. Cortana was a cool edge. She had had a distinct personality that stood in a sharp contrast to his own and hovered serenely on the edges of his consciousness. The cold kept him sharp, kept him alert. Altor, on the other hand, burned. Not a hot fire, but a shouldering warmth that constantly shifted and tickled in his head. She invaded "his space," then quickly backed away like a chastised child.

Chief lightly shook his head, _it's unimportant. I knew the specifications that MJOLNIR increased my abilities… how much does this new armor increase them to?_ Coming to a stop, the super soldier looked behind him. The ground was imprinted with his footsteps, even though he had applied only a small amount of pressure.

Altor looked up at him from her perch on his shoulder. She lay on her stomach, legs scissor-kicking in the air as her hands cupped her chin, and tilted her head in confusion. "Why did we stop?" The landscape was grey and rocky. With the planet's thin atmosphere, the stars were easily visible to the naked eye. Standing on her tiptoes, Altor put a hand over her eyes to figure out what he was looking at that was so special. Master Chief stared at a hill in the distance.

"Waaah!" Altor's character flipped, falling off his armor as he sprinted forward. The hologram disappeared before it hit the ground and reformed on his shoulder after a moment.

Master Chief's breath came out like a piston. He pushed himself, as fast as he could move, adrenaline flooding through his veins as he ran.

 _1 second._

The world slowed. But he didn't.

 _10 seconds._

From the angle of the star to his current position, and the angle of the shadow of the hill, the top of the hill should be about half a kilometer away.

 _15 seconds._

His muscles burned, but the armor didn't even struggle.

He skidded to a stop at the top, his inner timer telling him he had run for 20 seconds. _90 km/h_ Chief's mind calculated. _Much faster than my old armor. How strong is my armor now?_ He could ask Altor, but it wouldn't be the same. He needed to feel how much strength was needed. And how much he needed to hold back.

"Wow!" Altor's eyes sparkled. "The armor is working at a 90% efficiency rate! Why didn't you run at the maximum?"

Chief blinked. "Maximum?"

Altor spun in front of his helmet. "Yeah, the armor can move over 100 km/h if you choose to!"

Master Chief's muscles still burned from moving at the speed he did. _This must be what it was like for those other marines_ , his mind flashing back to the first testing of MJOLNIR and the constant cracking of bones. _My bones will be fine, but my muscles will need to get used to this new armor._

"How strong is the armor?" he asked the AI.

Altor smiled from ear to ear, "With your strength? The force multipliers would be able to output over 8 metric tons."

Master Chief didn't react on the outside, but on the inside his mind raced. _How much will I have to hold back? The armor can't be dialed back. Its power is enormous and consistent._ He reached into the ground beneath him. His hands easily broke through the rock, but as he started to lift a piece, it shattered into pebbles.

Altor looked directly at him, flying off his shoulder and hovering near his chest. "Is that not ok?"

He was silent for a moment. "It's fine."

And he began to practice. Reaching down, and pulling rock from the ground. Patiently continuing even as the rocks crumbled.

 _A Spartan is whatever the UNSC needs. Whether that be a scalpel, a hammer, or a shield. If I am not in control of my strength, I am a walking time-bomb. Unable to denote between friend and foe. That is not who Sam followed, and not who I will be._

* * *

 _This is too easy._ Shepard thought as they moved down the hallway. She could see the doorway to the other prisoners. _Why would the Hegemony leave potential terrorists in such a rundown prison? Even if Balak is here, it's too hard to stop someone from…_ Shepard stopped in her tracks.

"What's wrong?" Dr. Kenson asked. "You said we have to go. Why are we stopping?"

"How long have you been here doctor?" Shepard asked watching the walls carefully.

"Five days. Why?" the doctor responded.

"So why did they take so long to bring your team in? And why today of all days?" Shepard questioned.

Dr. Kenson looked down in contemplation. "It doesn't matter; the Reapers are coming. We have to get out and stop them."

Shepard put her hand on the door, cracking it open slightly when she heard a faint noise. Like a tripwire that had just been sprung. A faint beeping pinged faster and faster.

"Get down!" Shepard tackled the doctor.

The room behind them exploded in flames, Shepard could hear them still screaming in pain. Four soldiers rushed through the hall behind them, letting loose a hail storm of bullets.

"Get the intruders!" a Batarian guard roared. Two soldiers kneeled close to the walls, laying down cover fire. One advanced with a shotgun, and the fourth man hid inside Kenson's old cell.

"Damn!" Dr. Kenson yelled, diving behind cover and firing with her pistol.

Shepard shook her head,and looked in the room, only to see burnt and broken bodies. With a burst of strength, her biotics flared through her body. She soared to the advancing Batarian slamming her pistol on top of his hands and fired repeatedly into his chest. He fell with a gargle, while the two guards on the wall immediately focused fire on the Spectre. Azure energy pulsed around her as she erected a barrier around her body. Kenson, taking advantage of the situation, immediately fired at the distracted soldiers, killing one and wounding another.

Dropping the barrier, Shepard's exhaled heavily. She glared at the wounded soldier, slamming a clip into her pistol and quickly finishing him off. Shepard turned toward the hallway they had come from when a sniper bullet slammed into her helmet. The bullet burst through the right lens of her helmet, shattering the glass upon contact. The remaining Batarian saw a burning emerald eye encased by the blood flowing from her cut eyebrow before a biotic push slammed him into the wall.

 _Damn, didn't realize he was lining up the shot._ Shepard gingerly pressed the wound, watching her shields return. She turned as Kenson stomped the guard's neck.

Kenson looked back at her. "Don't tell me you feel something for this Batarian trash?"

Shepard said nothing, but something inside her shuddered.

Shaking her head, Shepard advanced. "We've probably set off every alarm in this prison. We have to get out of here. I was just in the hangar, we can steal a shuttle and get to the Normandy."

Kenson walked beside her, "They brought my ship here when they captured me. They needed me to unlock it for them, due to the biometrics. We can use that to get to Project Rho."

As they walked through the security room, Shepard asked, "Project Rho?"

"It's what we called the plan to stop the Reapers, at least for a while. I can explain more when—" as they opened the door to the hangar, they were illuminated by a spotlight. There was a balcony facing the two women, where eight Batarians were standing, assault rifles trained on them. Two doors opened to either side of them, and four soldiers poured in, hiding behind doorways and boxes as cover.

Shepard and Kenson stood in between two enormous crates. At the very top, Balak paced behind his troops, donned in his armor, sniper rifle in hand.

"Shepard! How lovely to see you again!" Balak called, anger rippling through his voice, "Don't be surprised. Why do you think I booby-trapped the other humans? Do you think I would forget the face, the style, the goddamn "save all the humans" attitude that nearly destroyed my career two years ago?"

Shepard stepped forward, hands carefully away from any weapon. "We don't want any trouble, Balak. But I need to help Dr. Kenson.

"Really?" he asked. "Because from where I'm standing, you're inside a Batarian prison, REALEASING a human terrorist. The one that I've been assigned to not let escape. So tell me, why should I even consider letting you two go."

"Because the Reapers are COMING!" Kenson yelled. "We must stop them. Let us go!"

 _Is that how I sound like?_ Shepard vaguely contemplated. _Huh, it kinda does sound crazy…_

"Ah, yes." Balak mused. "Is this one of your followers, Shepard? Have you convinced her of the mechanical gods coming to smite us all with their wrath? Is that why you have to save her?"

"No," Shepard responded. "She found that all on her own. Balak, I don't want to fight you. But I can't let you stop us here."

Balak shook his head, slamming a thermal clip into his weapon. "Well, you failed to save the prisoners again. How about dying again?!"

Shepard dove to the side, a sniper bullet flying through where her head was. Dr. Kenson took a position behind the other crate, attempting to return fire as the rest of the soldiers unloaded. Shepard started to peek her head from behind the crate, when a bullet sparked the edge, narrowly missing her.

"What's your ship look like?" Shepard yelled over the gunfire, tossing a biotic singularity over the crate toward the guards on the floor.

"It's a white and blue shuttle!" she responded. A bullet scratched her shoulder. "Damn it! It should be ready to go. Just needs a pilot!"

 _I can't stay here, Balak is a good enough sniper that I can't stay still for even a second. I need some sort of distraction…_ She looked around her; large crates, ship fuel, living supplies, wait…

"Kenson! Can you use incinerate?" Shepard asked.

"Yes! What of it?" the doctor responded, overloading a guard and shattering his helmet with her pistol before ducking from sniper fire. Kenson looked over seeing what was in Shepard's hand.

Shepard's biotics glowed as she grabbed the canister. "On my mark… MARK!" Shepard roared as she hurled the Canister into the air. With a biotic push, it flew through the air toward the balcony.

Balak's eyes widened. "Move!" He dove over the edge as the explosion engulfed his troops.

Shepard didn't let up, firing her pistol, she broke four guards shields', and engulfed them in a singularity. The dark ball of energy swarmed, grabbing anything in its path, smashing the guards and boxes against each other before exploding. One broke his neck upon impact, two of the others fell from chest collapsed. The last one directly flew into the fire, his screams piercing the air and added abject terror to the pandemonium.

Balak vacantly looked upon his ruined force while his remaining guards were efficiently dispatched by Kenson and Shepard. "SHEPARD!" he screamed in fury, his rifle aimed directly at her head. Shepard glared right back at him, bringing her pistol to bear. Kenson supported her from the side.

Balak's hand tensed twice on the trigger. "Not today, not tomorrow, but someday… Somehow… I will kill you Commander Shepard. I vow eternal vengeance upon you and who stands with you. I will plan, I will improve, and I will hunt you to the ends of the galaxy!" He discarded his rifle and bolted. Shepard traced his form with her gun, and turning away, addressed Kenson: "It's done."

"Why'd you let him get away?" Kenson asked, slightly annoyed.

Shepard didn't know how to answer. Was it because he wasn't armed? Did she think she deserved to be hunted like he had said? With a heavy sigh, she said. "How am I any better than Balak if I shoot a fleeing man? He's no longer in our way; there is no further need to kill him."

Kenson shook her head. "That heart of yours is going to get you killed."

Shepard politely declined to answer and wordlessly followed the doctor to her ship.

* * *

"Engaging autopilot." Kenson declared, climbing out of the cockpit to sit across from Shepard inside the main body of the ship. The shuttle was shaped like a rectangular box, with a curved front and an open back that housed the engines. The seating compartment could hold about four people comfortably, with two seats toward the cockpit and two near the engines in the back. The ship's doors, half metal/half bullet-proof glass, made up the one side of the ship.

"We caused enough chaos within the facility that we should be out of range before they can track us down." Kenson continued, resting her head on the wall behind her.

"Do you think they'll come after you? Why don't we just go to the Normandy? Its stealth system should hide us from anyone attempting to find us." Shepard asked.

"I'm not taking any chances. They found out that you were coming, didn't they? Batarians don't take kindly to humans who plan to destroy their mass relays." She responded calmly, like they were talking about reading a newspaper.

"What?!" Shepard flinched. "You're going to… is that why they called you a terrorist?"

"Well," she inclined her head. "To be fair, that's about half the story. My people and I were here investigating rumors of Reaper technology out in the fringes of this system."

"Reaper technology… I guess you found something."

"We found proof that the Reapers will be arriving in this system. When they get here, they'll use its mass relay to travel throughout the galaxy." Kenson stood up, walking over to the window facing the Mass Relay in the distance. "We call it the 'Alpha Relay.' From here, the Reapers can invade anywhere in the galaxy."

"How can you know that?" Shepard questioned.

"The object was sending specific transmissions to the relay, and the relay was able to send messages to a dozen different relays across the galaxy. No other relay has been shown to be able to perform such a task." Kenson informed.

"So… you decided to destroy the relay." Shepard said.

"Yes. By destroying the relay, we'll stop the initial Reaper invasion. Even at FTL speeds, it would be months or years before the Reapers reached to the next relay. We came up with what we called 'Project Rho': a plan to launch a nearby asteroid into the relay and destroy it before the Reapers could arrive." Kenson explained.

"Of course, the resulting explosion would probably wipe out the system." Kenson sat down, holding her head in her hands.

"I've always heard that mass relays are indestructible. The one that lead to Illos just got pushed by a supernova." Shepard look at the doctor with confusion.

"Everyone knows that, but it's more of a hypothesis since nobody's been willing to find out what happens if one was destroyed. And, well… we planned to slam a small planet into the thing at very high speed. By our calculations, that's more than enough. The relays have been recorded to repel any and all radiation with high-energy shielding, so we are hoping that pure force from the mass of the planet will destroy it." Kenson spoke.

"Where did you find the Reaper artifact?" Shepard asked.

"It's on the planet we plan to crash into the relay. The artifact was called Object Rho, so we named the project after that. We don't even know what its purpose is. Some things are just too old or large to comprehend. But even after thousands of years of inactivity, it contains power. It's worthy of study, regardless of its purpose." Kenson replied.

"If you can't understand it… how did it give you proof of an invasion?" Shepard questioned.

"It showed me visions of the Reapers' arrival… much like your Prothean beacon, I imagine. The Reapers are coming, Commander. That much I know for certain." Kenson said.

"If you're working near a Reaper artifact, how have you avoided indoctrination?" Shepard asked, reaching for her gun.

"We've been very careful. We know what we're dealing with. You're not speaking to a child, Shepard." Kenson's voice was tinged with offense. "I saw what Sovereign did at the Citadel. Trust me—I know what's at stake."

"Both Saren, the Spectre's best, and Benevia, a fully matured Matriarch, thought that too." Shepard yearned to push Kenson further... _just tell me HOW you avoided it. If it did work, we can help avoid it too. Or know another method that doesn't stop it._

"We've made sure to stay away from it unless we absolutely have to. All the facilities that house organics are as far as they can be from the Object." Kenson responded.

Shepard sighed. "Why can't we go to the Normandy and check your information with Hackett? I would like to try to plan ahead before destroying an entire system."

"We don't have time; the Reapers are arriving in…" Kenson checked her Omni-tool. "Less than 24 hours. We have to launch the Project now. I'll go make sure everything's ready." With that, the doctor stood up and walked to the pilot seat.

Shepard mind spun. _24 hours. We still need to stop the Collectors, and we only have 24 hours before their bosses are here too._ She looked over at the pilot seat. Raising her Omni-tool to her mouth, she sent out a message. "Joker, follow this shuttle, but keep stealth engaged at all times. I want to be able to leave ASAP."

* * *

 **A/N: Oh man, that took longer than expected. But to be fair guys, each of my chapters are at least 5k. (author's notes are the rest. XD)**

 **A/N: Phew, that's done. Now, responding to reviews!**

 **Sithdoom: When I say make, I mean the physical materials. Shields in ME are basically small packs on their back. In Halo, it takes a goddamn fusion reactor to power it. Its why pretty much only the Spartans have personal shielding system. While in Mass Effect, EVERYONE and their freaking DOG have shields.**

 **Mkoll312: The way I was rating the armor was that it wasn't in terms of survivability, but rather by type. Chief's armor is basically a new type of armor, as Forerunner's merely annihilated the humans rather than work with them. (Cause Flood V Human V Forerunner war). So class 13 is just saying it's a new type, rather than that it's stronger than the Class 2.**

 **Blaze1992: Well, it was the just the first chapter. As for that, Altor IS very smart… I let your mind wander.**

 **Commander Trevelyan: Thank you for that explanation! The only question I have is than what do Ardat Yakshi do? As it is stated they KILL the people they meld with. As for you last statement, we'll see. Chief is very touchy about others with his tech. He was at war with the only aliens he has ever known. (Well, not EVERYONE you extremely technical people, but enough to be wary.)**

 **Natzi Sumbitch: Thank you! When I finished Altor, I was soooo happy. Also, what do you mean when you say stick to Halo energy weapons? Cause EVERYONE uses ME tech, so I have to experiment with that. Chief will probably not use any Mass Effect guns unless he has to.**

 **The fox good: Ok, that's very interesting. I like the way boredzero explained it. With SCIENCE! Thanks for the suggestion!**

 **CMDRKai: Yeah, I made a mistake thinking they went light speed. As for your shoutout, here it is. XD**

 **Guest: HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Didn't even think of the three ME endings when I made Red Cortana.**

 **Kinunatzs: We have no idea how the Forerunner's actually categorized their weapons and shielding. I interpreted that the "classes" have to do with what TYPE of armor that is being made. Look at the author note to Mkoll312.**

 **Fer82: I will do my best sir. ;)**

 **Sorry if I didn't respond to ur review, but I don't want most of this author's note to be a large part of the chapter.**

 **OK, so with all that people have told me, I think I have a much better system for how I want this to work.**

 **ME weapons: They are extraordinarily fast, both with bullet speed and firing rate. However, they don't really do that much individually. Their main strength is the speed in which they hit and they amount that can be fired.**

 **ME shields: Not much has been changed from before, except that they only register at the speed that the ME weapons fire. Meaning they are vulnerable to slow moving weapons, i.e. explosions and melee hits.**

 **ME armor: These are a combination of ceramics and metal plates. They have a small internal exoskeleton through which they are able to move effectively without tiring. They block melee blows to the major muscle groups, but are vulnerable at the joints.**

 **Master Chief's weapons: His weapons are not fast enough to set off the ME shields. They have mass, but are primarily energy based weaponry. Only materials that are made to withstand extreme heat will be able to effectively hold off the Master Chief. (Though not for very long)**

 **Master Chief's armor: His armor is ridiculous in the ME galaxy. He isn't invulnerable, as explosions and other high heavy impact attacks will hurt him. Then again, when you can literally walk up to someone and block their bullets with just your hand, how much do you need to worry?**

 **To those who are iffy about the classification, I looked at everything I could about that. All the Halo references say is that there are two types of Forerunner armor that have classifications of 1-4 and 1-6. That isn't very helpful. Guilty Spark says that Cheif's armor is a Class 2 and that he should have a minimum of Class 12. I cannot say that the armor classifications are based on combat ability. Even if they didn't have energy shields, Chief rolls over every flood he ever finds. Litteraly only the Gravemind, who was HUGE, outmatched him. And his suit is only 2? While they had 12? It doesn't make sense to me. So, the classes are based on different types of roles each Combat Skin follows.**

 **Last note: for those that might be complaining about Shepard and what happened. The way I've made her is that Batarians are her sore spot. They are the cause of some of the worst things to happen in her life, and she isn't going to hold back. She is a paragon, but I refuse to believe that she won't have any grudges or stored anger toward them. She is human, and humans hate things that get in our way or have hurt us. The normal paragon we know and love, will come back. As for the stealth vs loud aspect, Arrival is a weird mission. It has tons of weird phenomenon that happen and the "stealth" portion of the mission confused me. Also the reason you had to go alone was weird too. So I tried to run with as much stealth as possible, as well as add in my own flair. Because seriously, if you found terrorists that would basically destroy an ENTIRE SYSTEM and cut off Batarians from the rest of the galaxy, you would send in an important soldier. Not those bullshit Batarian guards that only have 2 eye holes in their masks. WTF. So, I added in a good Batarian, and Shepard is not as nice as she normally is. She was trained in the Alliance's toughest program. You don't excel there by being nice.**

 **As for that little assassin monologue… I view Shepard as a warrior. She is extremely clever with her foes, but she rarely uses excessive deception. (This is in combat mind you). While she may hide, Shepard usually fights her foes head on. This equates to me as a warrior mindset. But soldiers are different from warriors. A soldiers job is to kill them no matter what, it's a big difference between Chief and Shepard I hope you guys will see. Both in the methods they employ, and they opinions about them.**

 **Special thanks to Azrael Akuma for my autocorrect fail. (Bad autocorrect!) And The Russian Bear, for pointing out the failed pov shifts. This is organized I promise! :P**

 **(side note) this was edited and uploaded from my I-Pad. Just because I love you guys and I'm on vacation away from my computer. XD here's a cookie. (::)**


End file.
